The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said that its troops in collaboration with the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) and Nigeria Police Force arrested two fake officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Niger Republic.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, disclosed this to journalists at the biweekly update on the Armed Forces of Nigeria operations between October 6 – 20, 2022 at Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the suspects were apprehended at an Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp located at Gagamari in Niger Republic while registering non-Nigerians and enrolling them on Nigeria’s database.
Danmadami listed items recovered by the security operatives from the suspects as: National Identification Number (NIN) registration machine, printing machine, laminating machine, a computer tracking machine and a generator set, among other items.
“On 13 October 2022, troops in conjunction with the Nigeria Police and NIS operatives intercepted 2 suspected fake National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) officials.
“It was revealed that the suspects had visited Gagamari IDP camp in Niger Republic to register non-Nigerian in the IDP camp.
“Items recovered from the suspects include National Identification Number (NIN) registration machine, printing machine, laminating machine, a computer tracking machine and a generator set among other items,” Danmadami told journalists.
Commenting on the development while fielding questions from journalists, the immediate-past Director of DMO, Maj.-Gen. Benard Onyeuko, said the intention of the fake officials will be unravelled when the investigations were completed.
He said it was a new feat achieved by the military and as such the Armed Forces should be commended.
“The Armed Forces deserve to be commended for achieving a new feat in in capturing these criminals even in a foreign country,” Onyeuko, who is now Director of Procurement at Defence Headquarters added.
“In this situation, they are fake, they’ve just been captured, and the investigations are on, involving all the MDAs that are associated with this including the armed forces and the DSS.
“Their intention will be unravelled by the time the investigations are concluded. But it should be noted that this is a new feat and I think the armed forces should commended for that,” he added.
